Abstract

This article reviews the empowerment needs of councillors at a selected local municipality in the Province of the Eastern Cape. The article further assesses capacity-building programmes previously offered by the selected municipality in an effort to empower its councillors in terms of the "new" developmental mandate, rules of procedure and the need for effective public consultation strategies. A recent empirical survey carried out at the selected municipality revealed that certain councillors require additional capacity-building programmes in areas such as local government law, council's rules of procedure and the new developmental mandate assigned to local government. The empirical survey further revealed that the professional relationship between certain councillors and the bureaucracy is somewhat strained and remedial intervention is required to restore mutual trust. The article proposes that local municipalities should provide regular "in house" training to their councillors and officials and that additional training by outside agencies should also be implemented. In this regard universities have a particular important role to play.